His arrival sparked a sudden storm of applause. Thunderous clapping even erupted from tourists in the normally hushed visitors' galleries, where Kennedy's teary wife, Vicki, and niece Caroline Kennedy watched the love of his colleagues wash over the 76-year-old legend.

Joined by the Democrats' anointed presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, and his son Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), the white-haired lawmaker briskly strode up to the Senate clerk's desk. Onlookers noticed a tiny patch of scalp.